Several decades of civil conflict in Liberia have left teachers with languishing reading and math skills and little opportunity for improvement. To update their skills and help create a more effective teacher corps, more than 1,000 teachers and facilitators in six counties will receive three days of refresher in-service training. Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), will deliver the workshop as part of the Core Education Skills for Liberian Youth (CESLY) program, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The training, the second of its kind, will not only build basic skills, but will assist Ministry of Education teachers and facilitators to better serve youth who missed the chance to enter formal conventional school.

Participants will deepen their knowledge of literacy, numeracy, math, work readiness, and life skills. The training will also include developing lesson plans and techniques to enhance the development of critical thinking. Looking beyond the classroom, facilitators and teachers will also learn how to promote a culture of reading, prevent gender violence, and adhere to the teachers’ code of ethics.

“This training will boost the reading and math content knowledge, and the teaching skills, of a broad section of educators who work within the education system and outside it,” said EDC’s Katy Anis. “The training will help rebuild an effective teacher corps in Liberia, which will in turn help thousands of young people to reach their potential.”

Held earlier was an intensive session for more than 50 master trainers and county education officials in all six counties, as well as for other NGOs piloting the nonformal education curriculum.

The newest training will contribute to the piloting of a nonformal education curriculum, expected by the summer of 2011, to meet the needs of older youth, who can then be placed into junior secondary school or into skills training, self-employment, or formal employment opportunities.

The CESLY program is a bilateral collaboration between the Ministry of Education of Liberia and USAID. EDC is implementing the program with its partners YMCA of Liberia and the Research Triangle Institute.

Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), is a global nonprofit organization that develops, delivers, and evaluates innovative programs to address some of the world’s most urgent challenges in education, health, and economic development. Visit www.edc.org.